Coleen Nolan turned down roles to be with her kids

Coleen Nolan has turned down numerous acting roles over the years because she didn\'t want to be away from her kids.

The \'Loose Women\' panellist will make her long-awaited acting debut in play \'The Thunder Girls\' in September, and admits she has been offered some "really great" parts earlier in her career but the timing was not right.

Coleen - who has kids Shane Jr., 30, and Jake, 26, from her marriage to Shane Richie, and daughter Ciara, 18, from her marriage to Ray Fensome - exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I\'ve been offered some really great stuff, but it\'s just never been the right time.

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"The kids were too young, it was either a six-month tour or a year in London.

"I didn\'t want to be away from them and I didn\'t want to uproot them from school.

"I was married at the time as well, so that would\'ve put more pressure on than needed to be put.

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"And now it\'s just come along that they are grown up, my divorce has come through, everyone is happy, and then \'Thunder Girls\' came along, it was just brilliant."

Coleen will play former pop star Anita in \'The Thunder Girls\' - which also stars \'Coronation Street\' actress Beverley Callard - and the 54-year-old star, who rose to name in girl group The Nolans, has likened the play to a "Christmas Day episode of a soap".

She added: "I\'ve lived and breathed the ups and downs of girl band life and I knew as soon as I read the script that this is the real deal. The audience will love this show.

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"It\'s like the ultimate sneak peek behind the velvet curtain of showbiz and what really can go on behind closed doors - to say it\'s explosive would be an understatement.

"\'The Thunder Girls\' is a bit like the Christmas day episode of a soap when you wait all year for someone to get their comeuppance.

"It starts off at a hundred miles an hour and doesn\'t stop until the curtain comes down.

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"I feel I can do Anita justice because I can draw on my past to play her. I\'m also incredibly inspired by the fact that this play has created roles for women who are fabulous over 50.

"I am nervous, but Anita was just too delicious to turn down - I can\'t wait to play her."

\'The Thunder Girls\' opens at The Lowry in Salford, Manchester on 24th September 2019. Tickets are on sale now at www.thelowry.com or call the box office on 0843 208 6000.